The present invention relates to a drying apparatus and, more particularly, a drying apparatus wherein air containing moisture and discharged from a drum is dried by means of a heat exchanger and again supplied to the drum.
The drying apparatus usually has an outer box and a drum arranged rotatably in the outer box wherein garmet materials such as underwear for example, housed in the drum are dried by supplying hot air into the drum. In a conventional drying apparatus, hot damp air discharged from the drum is not discharged outside the outer box but rather is dried by a heat exchanger arranged in the outer box and heated by a heater to be supplied into the drum again. Hot damp air discharged from the drum does not leak outside the outer box. The humidity in the room therefore does not rise, and the persons working in the room do not feel unpleasant. However, such a conventional drying apparatus must have therein a duct for guiding air discharged from the drum to the heat exchanger and another duct for guiding air passed through the heat exchanger to the drum via the heater. Therefore, its structure inside the outer box becomes complicated and high in cost. In addition, such a conventional drying apparatus uses only the heat exchanger to remove moisture, thus causing its moisture removing efficiency to be low. Further, when a part of hot moist air leaks inside the outer box through the connected portion of each of the ducts and through the bearing portion of the drum, this leaked hot moist air is discharged outside the outer box since it does not pass through the heat exchanger, thus increasing the humidity in the room.